Abigail Review

“What can I say? I like playing with my food.” – Abigail

It’s getting ridiculous – out of nine films I’ve seen theatrically this year, five are earmarked for inclusion on my films of the year list. That’s far and above what I’d normally expect for the first third of the year. And this is the latest. (Just to note for clarity, not every film I consider actually makes the final list because I only do a top ten – but that’s a headache for later on in the year.)

This film hit the sweet spot harder than I thought it would. I liked the trailer enough to want to undertake the hour drive to the multiplex, but the movie exceeded my expectations by taking a different approach than I was expecting – and it worked. Boy, how it worked.

Over the past couple of weeks, I upgraded my DVDs of two old favourites to Blu-Ray and watched the discs when they arrived at the house. Those movies were eighties classics The Lost Boys and Fright Night, both of which are both excellent vampire movies with a strong undercurrent of comedy – but the comedy isn’t at the expense of the vampire character. They’re not Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein, and (thankfully) not Carry on Screaming. They’re genuine horror movies with a touch of humour among the supporting characters’ dialogue and interactions. Abigail deserves its place up there among The Lost Boys and Fright Night for (wait for it) being in the same vein. (Thank you, I’m here all week.) But my awful puns aside, my point stands.

I’ve got to give a special mention to fifteen-year-old actress Alisha Weir for her title role performance as Abigail– it’s flawless. The role is demanding, requiring sudden sharp switches from helpless and vulnerable to savage and predatory, with a stint of blood chillingly threatening in there as well. Weir’s range and talent is nothing short of amazing.

On to the meat of the story – we have a team of criminals, all with code names taken from Frank Sinatra’s Rat Pack. They’ve been contracted to kidnap a twelve-year-old girl, on her way home from ballet practice and hold her hostage for 24 hours, until her wealthy father pays a hefty ransom. Okay we’ve all seen that plot used in movies – to the point of being flogged to death – right?

These thugs are terrifying to the child initially, and she appears distressed and fearful that she’s going to be hurt or murdered, so she’s meek and compliant. But when they’re not around her, we see how dumb and incompetent the kidnappers actually are, which is where the comedy lies. Learning that the father is actually the head of a large crime organisation, they become fearful for their lives and consider respectfully returning her and apologising. But their problems have only just begun.

They’ll be lucky to survive the night, because little Abigail, dressed in her ballerina finery, is actually a hungry vampire and she’s ready for dinner. The house where she’s being kept is now in a lockdown, with steel shutters in place covering every exit so there’s no escape and there’s no hiding place.

She’s relentless, and the horror and gore are just lavished on the screen with unapologetic relish. No role is overplayed, the comedy is kept nicely in check, counterbalancing the horror which is unsurprising considering the co-directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett have previously delivered some high-grade films, their last three being Ready or Not (which this is kind of reminiscent of) Scream & Scream VI. They maintain the same tone of mixing up the horror and violence with some tension relieving laughs.

But it’s fair to say that Abigail won me over from the first few frames for its repeated use of Swan Lake on the score – including the opening theme. It’s not only entirely fitting because it’s perhaps the best-known ballet piece on the planet, but was also used by Universal Pictures as the theme music for their classic Dracula in 1931, starring Bela Lugosi. And this is a Universal film.

As Steve pointed out when we were wandering out of the multiplex for some much-needed fast food, it appears we’re living in a new Golden Age of horror movies and I agree. This year alone has been outstanding so far.

I’ve got to say, I wouldn’t mind a sequel.

Rob Rating = 9